Best chinese in south florida (miami, ft lauderdale)

[coweepooh]

Hi,
We're visiting this week till the 7th and would like to know where the Chinese malls or communities are to see and also the best places for food...open to dim sum and mainly cantonese food...hopefully something with BBQ and noodles as well as something with slightly fancier good quality duck, seafood, etc :)

Thanks!!

Cory

[larfied]

The best "NYC Chinatown Style" Chinese food that I've tried in Broward County is Silver Pond--> somewhere on Route 441 near Commercial Blvd. It is well west of Downtown Fort Lauderdale (at least 30 minute drive) but well worth it.

[JonasBrand]

I remember liking Tony Chan's... though, last time I visited was years ago! Is it even still around? Anyhow it was high end Chinese at the time.

Tony Chan's Water Club
1717 North Bayshore Drive
Miami, FL 33132
305-374-8888

[LesleyEats]

Kon Chau (Bird Road) rocks for dim sum. Cheap, too.In the same shopping center as my favorite Asian market, too!

[JOJOGIRL]

I am originally from NYC and am living in SoFla

I only wish I could tell you where you could find good chinese food. I have been living in SoFla for 4 years and I miss NYC for its great and diverse chinese fare. If you get any recs let me know.!!

[drywash]

Unforutnately the most authentic NY City chinese restuarant is currently (hopefully temporarily ) closed. ITs called "Hong Kong City BBQ" and is on 441 just N of Commercial. Best dimsum.. although not on carts it is much fresher as it is mostly made to order. Excellent food!.. If you want great Chinese food with nicer atmosphere try "Christina Wan's" on US1 just south of Sunrise Blvd on the east side (about 3 blocks east). Excellent!

[advisor_Girl]

Hounds>

Christine Lee's daughter Mary was compelled to close the popular Sunny Isles location after all these years following a protracted "landlord issue." She has moved north to open Christine Lee's in Jupiter at 1200 Town Center Drive 561-624-0404

Talks are underway about a Dade County location...

----------

Cory>

The Peking style duck at Mr. Chu's is lovely and the dim sum is presented on the rolling carts for you to point and chu's (ouch! sorry). Smaller portions of roast duck are sometimes offered on the lunch carts or by order.

If you really want to do an Asian mall crawl, drive up to 163rd St shopping district and check out:

Chung Hing Oriental Market, 1855 NE 163rd St, North Miami Beach; 305-947-6038.
Maggie’s Oriental Groceries, 1234 NE 163rd St, North Miami Beach; 305-945-6070
Mary Ann Bakery, 1284 163rd St, North Miami Beach; 305-945-0333.
PK Oriental Mart, 255 NE 167th St, North Miami Beach; 305-654-9646
Vinh An Oriental Market, 372 NE 167th St, North Miami Beach; 305-948-8860

In that area - try the BBQ at King Palace, 330 NE 167th St, (not the buffet next door!) or the dim sum before 4pm at Sang’s, 1925 NE 163rd St, North Miami Beach.

I do agree with TP that Mr Chu's has the best dim sum.

AG

[netmover]

AG bringing the goods for real! Is that really you?

Try Jumbo up on 167th for authentic Chinese and Dim Sum, it's been years since I have been, but it was the real deal when I went..

[advisor_Girl]

Hiya Net>

Really me? Really! Me!

I like Jumbo in a pinch - but I think the dim sum at Sang's
(closer to Laurenzo's, just across from the old yummy Sub Center - now alas a crummy Subway) are better than Jumbo's but lesser than Chu's...

Jumbo's does the paper and pencil thing (you write, they bring). Their steamed shrimp and parsley dumplings were in fact steamed shrimp and cilantro last time we visited and I think I hurt myself eating all the extra orders. They were light and thin skinned and just delicious. Jumbo is definitely still on the short list, but there are others higher up. Also, Sang's stops dim summing at 4. Jumbo adds a bit of $ after 3pm but you can still get them. Much depends upon the time of day you happen to make it to 163rd Street.

In my case, it's a reward for taking AdvisorBoy to Home Depot... which will probably happen shortly. ::sigh::

Happy 4th!

AG

[netmover]

Just checking...

Same to you and all the Hounds here in the FLA...

Happy Independence Day to one and all!

[Frodnesor]

My Jumbo experience has been somewhat hit or miss. I love their soup dumplings but most of the rest has been somewhat nebbish.

[boltnut55]

We'll be there for about six days in January... I'm Chinese... although Chinese food is not my favorite, on vacation I end up craving it at some point, so I'm grateful for the info... would this be considered the "Chinatown" area if there were such an area for South Florida? Or are there other places I should check out? We're staying in Coconut Grove, will be visiting the Greater Miami area, and have a car.

[Frodnesor]

There is no Chinatown as such like you will find in NY or SF. The stretch of 163rd Street between Biscayne Blvd. and I-95 is about as close as you'll get, but only because several Chinese markets and restaurants have taken up space in the strip malls along there. But it's not remotely a walking area (163rd St. is a 4-6 lane, high traffic road and the roughly dozen or so Chinese places are spread out over a few miles (with a few concentrated in a couple strips).

If you're staying in Coconut Grove, it's probably almost as close for you to go toward the dim sum places down south (Tropical, South Garden, Kon Chau) as north - though there's no consensus as to which is best.

[mialebven]

The closest to you are these three locations offering Dim Sum:

Mr. Chu's in Miami Beach
Kon Chau in Westchester
Tropical in Westchester

Both Kon Chau and Tropical are across the street from each other. And there's an Asian market a few doors down from Kon Chau.

And after seeing the contentious debate on which has the best Dim Sum in Miami, I don't think there's any "best" -- my conclusion is that it depends on what you order and what particular types of dim sum you prefer to eat. But I don't think you can go wrong with any of them - just don't hold any lofty expectations and you may be surprised. :-)

[boltnut55]

Thanks both of you. I've added to my list!

[Chandavkl]

As Frodnesor indicates there is no
Chinatown, though the merchants in the 163rd St. area like to refer to their area as Chinatown (check out the "Southern Florida Chinatown" webpage). There is a decent though not concentrated Chinese community in the Miami area, comprising in fair part Chinese who have moved down from New York. You might want to grab a copy of the weekly Florida Chinese news while at one of the recommended restaurants for additional ideas as to authentic Chinese restaurants. Besides the 163rd St. area, most of the authentic restaurants are in Broward County.

[jkatz23]

If you are staying around A1A and 170th try Christine Lee's. It has typical cantonese food, the place has been around for a long time and their food is reliably good. Don't be surprised about their steak offerings, they have always offered a menu combining cantonese food and steaks, lamb chops, etc, so if any of you do not want to eat chinese you can try the steaks which are good too.

They are located on an RK shopping ctr:

Christine Lee's
RK Shopping Ctr
17082 Collins Ave.
www.christinelees.com

[HabaneroJane]

Christine lee's closed!

[jkatz23]

Wao!!! I did not know!, do you know what happenned? are they moving somewhere else???

[HabaneroJane]

Nope! There was an article in the Herald a while back saying the family that owned it was retiring and closing the place. Sad, isn't it?

[jkatz23]

Yes, after so many years..., I called and got a message on the answering machine saying that they have their Jupiter location open, I did not know they had another restaurant in FL, maybe they retired in Jupiter? Well, thanks for letting me know!

[chow003]

Christine Lee's is not closed, it is now at the Gulfstream Racetrack in Hallandale

[tpigeon]

If you are in Sobe Mr. Chu's is easily the best. Especially for dim sum, which I have not had better in NY.

[Frodnesor]

South Florida really doesn't have the same kind of concentration of Chinese communities and restaurants you see in many other larger cities. The closest you might find would be the stretch along 163rd Street in North Miami between US1 and I-95, but for the most part the food you will find there is underwhelming.

Agree that the dim sum at Mr. Chu's is very good. Though some think it is overrated I also think the dim sum at Tropical in South Miami is good.

Overall Chinese is not South Florida's strong suit, however.

[yomyb]

I love Chinese food...but I forget about it since I always feel Miami and South Beach choices are so bad. I was surprised never to have heard of Mr. Chu in SoBe. So I went today for dim sum and all I have to say is thank you chows for giving me something else to look forward to just outside our South Beach door ;-)